At this point, it’s no secret that what TikTok creators have is incredibly valuable. That’s why bands of artists and celebrities all over the entertainment industry are urging their clients to join in this craze. It’s also where they’ll find talent, like the Los Angeles rock duo Loveless.
Multi-instrumentalist Dylan Terrapelli Jamil and singer Julian Como have only been together for over two years and have already reaped the rewards of their success on social media. Navigating the music industry can be a daunting task for any kid band, but it’s not without love. “Honestly, it was kind of easy because the industry kind of ignored us,” Cuomo says. “They didn’t really care about us, so we made a name for ourselves without them.”
“We weren’t actually navigating the industry, we were browsing social media,” adds Terrapelli-Jamil. And they succeeded – amassing 1.2 million followers on TikTok, Hank Green sang along with Comeau in the TikTok duet and their songs garnered millions of views. Namely: Lizzo lovingly puts them in jail for taking them in “About Damn Time”.
Tweet embed #stitch withthisisloveless ♬ original sound – lizzo
With the original “About Damn Time” cover post garnering 7.4 million views as well as 4.2 million Lizzo’s response, less than 60 seconds of content on the app gained a loveless exposure to a whole new fan base. Cuomo was even surprised that Lizzo watched TikTok: “My mom was actually like ‘Do you think Lizzo would respond?'” And I was like ‘Impossible.’ It was a major milestone for the band, especially for Tirapelli-Jamail, who originally hails from Lizzo’s hometown of Houston, Texas.
This wasn’t the only Loveless cover posted on TikTok that got attention. After their participation in the movie Billie Eilish “Happier than ever“They went viral, followed by releasing a full-length version to DSPs, getting over a million streams on Spotify alone in just two weeks. They Cover of “Midnight” by Elie Doh It has 12.5 million views on the original TikTok post and 11 million for an interweaving version of the music videos they made for the song. Their full version currently has over 13 million streams on Spotify, and has ranked #1 on iTunes’ rock chart and #2 on Billboard’s Hot Hard Rock Songs – behind My Chemical Romance’s The Foundations of Decay.
“When I saw our name second only to My Chemical Romance, my 13-year-old daughter was shrugging off my 30-year-old pants,” Tirapelli-Jamail grumbled.
As they are grateful for the success their covers have seen, Loveless is a far cry from the cover troupe. Their goal in posting these covers on TikTok is to draw attention to the band and most importantly, to their original music. The strategy reversed with the release of the most popular wrappers of signal service providers.
“Even if 1% of those people are listening to an original song,” Cuomo sees it as a win. “I wanted to reach 1 million listeners per month by the end of the year, and we hit that target in June,” Cuomo says. When managers finally started paying attention, this particular goal was mocked. “We don’t talk to those managers anymore,” Cuomo says with a smirk worthy of being a captain up front.
This wasn’t the only time the industry has ignored the duo. “Honestly, they view us as less than because we made covers. I love these songs we cover, but I don’t want to be seen as less than an artist because I value other people’s art. I think that’s unfair.” They also noted that it took months after they went viral on Spotify to give them editorial attention and no labels were reached.
“Indeed, we were rejected [SiriusXM’s] octane again and again. They told us they couldn’t play our songs because it wasn’t Active Rock, it wouldn’t fit the mold, and listeners wouldn’t like it,” Cuomo says. Soon, those tables turned. Since then, production companies, directors, and even SiriusXM have reached out to Loveless.
After the success of “Midnight”, they announced “No More Covers”. Why do you follow up with Cover of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)” by Kate Bush After a brief period? “Because Octane asked us to,” laughed Jamil Terrapelli. Caity Babs, the live octane talent on air, reached out and asked them to cover the song for Stranger Things, but the song is still on octane.
They both love seeing the success of their songs outside of TikTok, as well as their short content on the app, but they say it’s not as rewarding as creating an original song. Despite the growing popularity of their original music on TikTok, the app’s algorithm tends to push out content that doesn’t inherently belong to them. Cuomo explains, “I am very grateful to TikTok and its algorithm for the way it has given us so much of our success, but at the same time it is not designed for artists to achieve success; it is designed for the platform of success. In the end, posting new music and gaining new people to try our songs and become fans is not The profitable thing for TikTok.”
This is why TikTok is just a tool, not the end of everything for artists, as they suggest.
Covering very serious topics with very catchy hooks, Lovelace brings out “the darkest and saddest parts of their psyche, but in a way that is fun to listen to,” Cuomo explains. They are just starting to scratch the surface. “Guitars, pop, punk, and metal will always be an essential part of our organization, but there’s so much we want to do.”
As you grow up listening to everything from jazz and musical theater to punk, there’s more to explore acoustically, visually, and thematically. Their debut album was entirely written by the time Cuomo left his band and fully embraced a musical love affair with Tirapelli-Jamail. They know who are writers individually, but now they are really discovering who they are without love. This journey of discovery will be shown in full with the upcoming EP, “End of an Era,” scheduled for release in early September.
“Although a lot of the lyrics deal with dark things and kind of turbulent and intrusive thoughts, I think there’s an air of hope and really trying to find joy in the pain,” Cuomo says. “I live with a chronic mental illness. It’s not like I’m anxious. About something going on in my life, I’m always very worried. Instead of being devastated by it, I decided to find some hope for it.”
“Our dreams in this project have grown significantly,” Cuomo says. They signed the UTA and began to attract attention from many record companies. With a rising fan base and live shows on the horizon for fall, they’re taking it all in.
“I’ve played in a lot of different bands, and I’ve had a lot of different roles in the industry. I didn’t feel any of that was mine,” Terrapelli-Jamil says. And for other new artists trying to use TikTok as a tool for success, stop being your biggest critic and start being your biggest fan. According to Cuomo, “You have to love what you do, or else how will anyone else go?”
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